U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and Michigan's U.S. senators Gary Peters (Democrat) and Debbie Stabenow (Democrat) Friday introduced legislation to allow Kettles to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

The legislation waives the customary rule stipulating that the Medal of Honor must be awarded within five years of a heroic act. If Congress passes the bill, the final decision will be up to the president.

"Major Kettles' courage and dedication in the face of incredible odds is deserving of our nation's highest military honor," Dingell said. "Major Kettles went above and beyond the call of duty and saved a significant number of American lives. This legislation will ensure that 48 years after his service, his contributions to our country are properly honored."

On May 15, 1967, after an airborne infantry unit was ambushed in the Song Tra Cau riverbed in Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army, Major Kettles led three flights into extremely hostile territory to deliver supplies, reinforcements, and evacuate the wounded and trapped. During the final flight, shortly after leaving the landing zone, Major Kettles was informed that eight soldiers remained on the ground.

Without hesitation or a second thought, Kettles, who had only one man aboard his UH-1D, turned around and swooped back into the mostly evacuated battlefield, providing dozens of North Vietnamese guns a large, easy, sitting target.

The soldiers sprinted toward and climbed aboard the suddenly overloaded and badly shot-up helicopter. After a few attempts, it lurched into the air while absorbing mortar rounds and enemy fire that pocked its fuselage.

Against the odds, Kettles got the helicopter airborne, saving the eight men and his crew. Without hesitating, he returned on his own, without regard for his own safety and with no other support, to rescue the remaining men. All totaled on that day, his actions saved the lives of 40 soldiers and four crew members from the 176th Aviation Company after their helicopter was destroyed.
For his voluntary action above and beyond the call of duty, Major Kettles was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1968.

In 2012, a local campaign was launched by William Vollano, a coordinator with the Veterans History Project, and Major Kettles' family to upgrade his award to the Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Honor requires three eyewitness statements corroborating events, and all the soldiers that were a part of the rescue who are still alive have the same version of events as Kettles. That put the effort to upgrade the Distinguished Service Cross to a Medal of Honor into motion.

All those remaining soldiers rescued by Kettles "enthusiastically volunteered" to write letters supporting the upgrade. Only 3,495 servicemen have received the medal, and around half of those were for service during the Civil War.

Last year former Congressman John D. Dingell (D-Dearborn) sent a letter to the secretary of defense asking for reconsideration of the United States of America's highest military honor.

John Counts covers crime and breaking news for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at johncounts@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.